CIC PRACTICE EXAM FINAL PAPER 2026
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS GRADED A+
◉ environmental intervention factors that affect risk of infection.
Answer: disinfectant type used, contact with animals, hand hygiene
◉ anatomical/phys factors that affect risk of infection. Answer:
preexisting diseases, trauma, malignancies, age, gender, and
nutritional status
◉ DMAIC. Answer: D=define customers, project boundaries, and
processes
M=measure performance
A=analyze data to identify causes of variation, gaps in performance,
and prioritize actions
I=improve the process
C=control the process to prevent reverting
◉ What should an effective surveillance program be able to
provide?. Answer: Detection of infections and injuries, identify
trends, identify risk factors associated with infections and other AEs
detect outbreaks and clusters, assess the overall effectiveness of the
infection control and prevention program and demonstrate changes
in proactive and processes that lead to better outcomes
,◉ Define point prevalence. Answer: number of persons ill on the
date divided by the population on that date.
◉ Define attack rate. Answer: Number of people at risk in whom a
certain illness develops / (divided by) / Total number of people at
risk
◉ Define prevalence. Answer: fraction of a population having a
specific disease at a given time
◉ Define incidence. Answer: number of new cases of a disease
divided by the number of persons at risk for the disease.
◉ Type of specimen for C. diff. Answer: liquid stool is required
◉ When to suspect C. diff infection?. Answer: when 3 or more
unformed/watery stool in 24 hrs occurs
◉ Relative Risk (RR). Answer: Used in cohort studies to determine
how strongly a risk factor is associated with an outcome.
1 is the null= no significance of the association between exposure
and adverse event
, P(X infection or exposed)/P(Y infection or unexposed) = RR
◉ Details of control chart. Answer: central line = the ave of data pts
x axis = time
y axis = rate/count
may be upper control/lower control limit lines and +/- 3 SD lines
◉ Directly observed therapy (DOT). Answer: requires that a health
care provider directly observe the patient swallowing the pills,
whether it is in the hospital, office, or home care setting
the best method for TB regimen, intermittent therapy, MDRO, high
risk for noncompliance (drug abusers/homeless)
◉ Hill's Criteria of Causality. Answer: 1) strength of association-
relationship between casual factor and disease outcome
2) consistency of finding- associations are repeated
3) specificity of association- very specific cause
4) temporality- cause must be before the effect
5) biological gradient- dose and response relationship, more
exposure causes higher risk
6) biologic or theoretical plausibility- has to make biological sense
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS GRADED A+
◉ environmental intervention factors that affect risk of infection.
Answer: disinfectant type used, contact with animals, hand hygiene
◉ anatomical/phys factors that affect risk of infection. Answer:
preexisting diseases, trauma, malignancies, age, gender, and
nutritional status
◉ DMAIC. Answer: D=define customers, project boundaries, and
processes
M=measure performance
A=analyze data to identify causes of variation, gaps in performance,
and prioritize actions
I=improve the process
C=control the process to prevent reverting
◉ What should an effective surveillance program be able to
provide?. Answer: Detection of infections and injuries, identify
trends, identify risk factors associated with infections and other AEs
detect outbreaks and clusters, assess the overall effectiveness of the
infection control and prevention program and demonstrate changes
in proactive and processes that lead to better outcomes
,◉ Define point prevalence. Answer: number of persons ill on the
date divided by the population on that date.
◉ Define attack rate. Answer: Number of people at risk in whom a
certain illness develops / (divided by) / Total number of people at
risk
◉ Define prevalence. Answer: fraction of a population having a
specific disease at a given time
◉ Define incidence. Answer: number of new cases of a disease
divided by the number of persons at risk for the disease.
◉ Type of specimen for C. diff. Answer: liquid stool is required
◉ When to suspect C. diff infection?. Answer: when 3 or more
unformed/watery stool in 24 hrs occurs
◉ Relative Risk (RR). Answer: Used in cohort studies to determine
how strongly a risk factor is associated with an outcome.
1 is the null= no significance of the association between exposure
and adverse event
, P(X infection or exposed)/P(Y infection or unexposed) = RR
◉ Details of control chart. Answer: central line = the ave of data pts
x axis = time
y axis = rate/count
may be upper control/lower control limit lines and +/- 3 SD lines
◉ Directly observed therapy (DOT). Answer: requires that a health
care provider directly observe the patient swallowing the pills,
whether it is in the hospital, office, or home care setting
the best method for TB regimen, intermittent therapy, MDRO, high
risk for noncompliance (drug abusers/homeless)
◉ Hill's Criteria of Causality. Answer: 1) strength of association-
relationship between casual factor and disease outcome
2) consistency of finding- associations are repeated
3) specificity of association- very specific cause
4) temporality- cause must be before the effect
5) biological gradient- dose and response relationship, more
exposure causes higher risk
6) biologic or theoretical plausibility- has to make biological sense
